Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Social anxiety is a term used to describe an experience of anxiety regarding social situations, interactions with others and being evaluated or scrutinized by other people. It occurs early in childhood as a normal part of the development of social functioning, but may go unnoticed until adolescence. People vary in how often they experience social anxiety or in which kinds of situations. It can be related to shyness or other emotional or temperamental factors, but its exact nature is still the subject of research and theory.